StemCell Therapy

Organ transplant patients usually spend a lifetime on expensive and often dangerous anti-rejection drugs. But experts have announced that such drugs may not even be needed in the future, thanks to a new study that suggests patients receiving an organ that is less than a perfect match can be protected against rejection by a second transplant of the donors imperfectly matched stem cells. The study is being hailed as a game-changer for transplantation.

Experts announced the success of kidney transplants for a small number of patients, using a relatively new technique known as normothermic perfusion. This involves the warming of the kidney with oxygenated blood after it has been in cold storage. This technique also boosts the function of damaged kidneys from marginal donors, such as the elderly or those with high blood pressure and diabetes, and also reduces the risk of the organ being rejected.

Also, an injection of stem cells given with the kidney transplant could remove the need for patients to take anti-rejection drugs the rest of their lives to suppress the immune system. Preliminary tests of the technique were successful in a small number of patients.

The researchers, publishing their study in the journal Science Translational Medicine, said the research could have a major impact on transplant science.

The key issue with transplantation is the immune systems recognition that the new organ is a foreign invader and bombards it. To prevent this from occurring, patients take powerful drugs to suppress their immune systems, and must do this for life. However, the drugs can have dangerous side effects, and in some instances, are ineffective, causing even more danger to the patient.

The study, carried out at the University of Louisville and the Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, involved eight patients.

Transplants came from a live donor, who also underwent a procedure to draw stem cells from the blood. The transplant recipients body was prepared using radiotherapy and chemotherapy to suppress their own immune system. The transplant was then performed, with the stem cells injected a few days afterwards. The idea is that the stem cells will help generate a modified immune system that no longer attacks the organ or its new owner.

The patients were still given anti-rejection drugs after the transplant. However, the aim was to reduce doses slowly, hopefully withdrawing them altogether over time. Five of the eight patients were able to do this within a year.

One of those is 47-year-old Lindsay Porter, from Chicago.

I hear about the challenges recipients have to face with their medications and it is significant, she said in a press statement. Its almost surreal when I think about it because I feel so healthy and normal.

Link:
New Hope For Organ Transplant Recipients

This entry was posted on March 9, 2012 at 9:04 am and is filed under Stem Cell kidney Failure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |